One thing that many people worry about when getting a tattoo or body piercing is whether an employer or any future employer might not hire them them for having one. (Strangely, the opposite is true here at Magnum.)

However, according to John Challenger, who operates the job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. – and happens to have a wicked last name – says the threat of such discriminations is almost non-existent.

“Today, even in this tight job market, most companies are not going to view tattoos too harshly,” Challenger told the Central Valley Business Times. “One reason is that with everyone from soccer moms to MIT computer science graduates sporting tattoos, preconceptions about tattooed individuals are no longer valid.”

Tattoo advocates have long said that tattoos should not be considered during a hiring, and Challenger agrees.

“More importantly, companies have a vested interest in hiring the most qualified candidate,” he said.

“Two decades ago, showing off tattoos and body piercings would be a surefire way to get your resume placed in the ‘No Way!’ pile,” he said, before admitting that “Times have changed.”

In the past twenty years, the popularity and acceptance in society of tattoos has skyrocketed, with recent research indicating that almost two in five people aged 18 to 29 has some skin art.

Additionally, those doing the hiring – for the sake of our argument aged 30 to 45 – aren’t strangers to tattoos and piercings either, with more than three of every ten hiding some ink underneath the dress shirt and tie.

The research, conducted by the Pew Center, who specialize in – what else? – doing research also found that 30 percent of 18 to 29 year olds (who they call “Millennials” … pretty badass, eh?) have their body art visible at all times.

And while Challenger said we might never see visible tattoos on the clergy – no, seriously he said that – he recommended that jobseekers scope out employers as much as they are being scrutinized.

“As a job seeker, you have to judge whether the employer you are interviewing with is going to be accepting of your body art,” he said.